Richmond - On Saturday, February 21st, Dharma Drum Vancouver Center (DDVC) hosted the inaugural Chinese New Year Festival – Chan Culture Open House and welcomed everyone to come and celebrate the most important Chinese holiday. The entire event was carried out in English. It was hoped that Canadians from diverse backgrounds would take advantage of this opportunity to learn about Chinese culture and Chan teachings and be able to incorporate the teachings into their everyday life.

One of the largest displays of Buddha images ever seen in Australia has been assembled to celebrate 2550 years of Buddhism. The Exhibition showcases an extensive array of compassionate images of Buddha, Bodhisattvas and other Buddhist traditional iconographies. These images will provide an insight into the religious, historical and cultural aspects of Buddhism in Australia.

Six years ago, Dharma Drum Mountain opened in Portland, Oregon. DDM Portland has greatly expanded over this time, due in no small part to the enthusiastic support of Li Guocun, Deng Yinying, Li Xianhsin, Lin Powen and Chen Ruijuan. Furthermore, as of February this year, DDM Portland even has a permanent location, thanks to the house that Li Guocun has most generously donated.

Following the interfaith dialogue chaired by Sheng Yen Shifu in 2004 whilst Shifu was here in Melbourne to deliver a keynote speech to the Psychologist Society of Australia. Since then, DDM Melbourne has been actively participating and promoting the concepts of peaceful coexistence and harmony amongst the various religious faiths in Australia.

The President of DDM Melbourne Branch Mrs Laura Chan had been invited by the Interfaith Centre of Melbourne to attend the second Annual Interfaith Prayer Ceremony for the work of the United Nations on 24 October.